Lace attachment for knitting machines



March 31, 1936'; w. HEINITZ 2,035,960

LACE ATTACHMENT FOR KNITTING MACHINES I Fil e d Aug; 20, 1952 s Sheets-Sheet 1 42 Wldemdrflaizii.

March 31, 1936, w. HEINITZ LACE ATTACHMENT FOR KNITTING MACHINES Filed Aug. 20, 19552 3 Sheets-Sheetk Adar/1g.

March 31, 1936; w HE|N|TZ 2,035,960

I LACE ATTACHMENTIFOR KNITTING MACHiNES 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Aug. 2Q, 1932 c d e f 4 #9 p I [MVP/1Z0 Wo jdzzflarflaiziiz.

Patented Mar. 31, 1936 LACE ATTACHMENT FOR KNITTING MACHINES Woldemar Heinitz, Chemnitz, Germany, assignor to Schubert & Salzer Maschinenfabrik Aktiengesellschai't, Chemnitz, Germany Application August 20, 1932, Serial No. 629,688

In Germany August 24, 1931 3 Claims. (01. 66-96) My invention relates to lace attachments for knitting machines, and more particularly lace attachments with pattern drums.

It is an object of my invention to increase the efliciency of a drum-lace attachment so as to obtain a greater number of patterns with a pattern drum of smaller size than normal.

In drum-lace attachments as designed heretofore, the drums have only been shifted axially .for. one or two needles, with the object of covering. It has also been suggested to shift the drums into any desired position with respect to the knitting needles for patterning in which position they were fixed. However, the patterning possibilities afforded by this expedient are limited.

By my invention, an additional displacement is imparted to the drums as required for a given pattern in .a manner similar to the usual displacement of the cradle frames or the like, without involving appreciable complication of the machine while obtaining smaller drums.

It is another object of my invention to improve the pattern drums themselves. provide adjustable pattern blocks on the drums,

l5 and exchangeable pattern cams on the blocks.

In a preferred embodiment of my invention. the drum is grooved in parallel to its axis and pattern blocks are inserted in the grooves and adjusted as desired. The blocks are notched and 50 pattern cams of U-shaped, preferably bent wires, are inserted in their notches with one of their shanks bearing on the perimeter of the drum. This is a simple and reliable patterning means, particularly because the individual pat- 55 tern cams are firmly abutted on and supported by, the drum.

In the drawings aflixed to this specification and forming part thereof a lace attachment embodying my invention is illustrated diagrammatic'ally' by way of example as applied to a flat knitting machine.

In the drawings a Fig. 1 is an elevation of the device according to the invention showing as much of the ma- 5 thine only as is necessary for its understanding,

Fig. 2 is'a section on the line 11-11 in Fig. 1, drawn to "a larger scale,

Figs. 3 and 4 are diagrams showing two distinct positions of a pattern drum and the mecha- 50 nism controlled by its pattern blocks.

Fig. 5 is a cross section showing a portion of a pattern drum, drawn to a larger scale,

Fig. 6 is a section on. the line VI-VI in Fig. 5, and

55 Figs. '7, 8, and 9 illustrate various patterns to be obtained by my novel lace attachment with fewer pattern blocks than required in the old attachment.

Referring now more particularly to Figure 1 I of the drawings wherein I have illustrated a por- To.this endI tion of a conventional flat bar knitting machine,

the numeral l indicates a rack or sector which is pivotally mounted as at 2 to the frame (not shown) of the knitting machine. Usually the machine is provided with three sectors l but as 5' they are placed in alignment with one another only one appears in this figure of. the drawings. A stop support 3 is carried by and mounted for horizontal reciprocation upon the bar 4 of the knitting machine frame. This stop support has 10 formed therewith a downwardly extending projection 5 carrying a roller 6. The bar I forming another part of the knitting machine is reciprocated in a vertical direction in the usual manner and has fixed to its upper end a wedge 8 and a 15 finger 9. This bar I when in its uppermost position causes the wedge 8 to contact with the roller 6 and thereby impart a movement to the stop support 3 in one direction or to the right of Figure 1 and at the same time, the finger 9 con- 20 tacts the longer arm of one of the sectors I. The shorter arm I" of this sector I is provided with a catch l I and the latter is at times adapted to extend within the path of travel of the pins it carried by the pattern chain l2. The catch II is normally held in the path of travel of the pins I 4 as is illustrated in Figure 1 of the drawings by the longer or heavier arm of the sector. but when the finger 9 raises the longer arm of the sector, this latter will oscillate about its pivot connection 2 and thereby draw the catch ll out of the path of travel of the pins I 4 permitting the pattern chain to be moved. This pattern chain l2 extends over the sprocket wheel I 3 and rotary movement is transmitted to this sprocket wheel by means of the feed mechanism of the knitting machine. The rod l5 which forms a part of this feed mechanism has its upper end connected to an arm I 6 which latter has one end pivotally connected to the shaft II which also supports the sprocket wheel I 3. The outer or free end of this arm l6 has pivotally mounted thereupon a pawl I8 which latter is adapted to engage a ratchet wheel l9 also mounted upon the shaft I1 and connected to the sprocket wheel 4 l3 whereby when the catch II is moved out of the path of travel of the pins I 4 of the pattern chain and the usual reciprocating movement transmitted to the rod IS, an intermittent rotary movement in one direction will be transmitted to the sprocket wheel l3 and the pattern chain l2 caused to travel therewith. After the pattern chain has been moved to the desired position by the: feed mechanism, the bar I is then moved downwardly thereby retracting the wedge 8 from the roller 6 and the finger 9 from the sector I,, whereby the latter will be permitted to return to its initial position or that shown in the drawings, by gravity and the catch ll caused to extend in the path of travel of the pins l4 c0 thereby arresting the movement of the pattern chain. One face of the upper end of the bar 26 forming a part of the racking device of the knitting machine bears against a flange 2|! formed with and projecting from the stop support 3 and the opposite face of the upper end of this bar 20 is stepped as shown. Slidably arranged within the downwardly projecting part 5 of the stop support is a dog 2| adapted at times to have engagement with the ratchet teeth formed with the free end of the longer arm of the sector land the stepped upper face of rod 20 for limiting the movement of the stop support 3 when shifted to the left of Figure 1.

Formed with the stop support 3 or fixedly sesured in the manner as shown in the drawings is a stop 22 which is usually in the form of a plate and by being so secured to the stop support 3, is caused to move therewith when movement is transmitted to the stop support through the pattern controlled shifting mechanism above set forth. The usual point rod 23 of the knitting machine, is in a well known manner normally held, by means of a spring (not shown) in abutting engagement with the stop plate 22, so as to be shifted to the right when a similar movement is transmitted to the stop or its support 3. This point rod or bar 23 is slidably and rotatably mounted within suitable bearings carried by the framework of the knitting machine and one of which is herein shown anddesignated. by the numeral 24. Fixedly secured to this point rod 23 are the usual and varied number of cradle frames, one of which is herein shown and indicated by the numeral 25. Carried by each cradle frame 25 is a series of lace points 32 which are to cooperate in the usual manner with the knitting needles 42 of the knitting machine. In order to bring the lace points 32 into operative engagement with the knitting needles 42, the rod 23 is rotated within its bearings whereupon the cradle frame and its lace points 32 will be swung along the dot and dash line as shown in Figure 2 until the lace points are brought into the proper position, whereat they can cooperate with the needles 42. These lace points 32 are shown in Figure 1 in their inactive position or out of cooperative engagement with the knitting needles 42., All of the foregoing is the construction and operation of a conventional flat bar knitting machine and as the same will be fully understood by those skilled in this art, no fur ther description is required.

Also mounted for reciprocation within the bearingsupport 24 is a rod 26 extending below and parallel to the rod 23'. Connected to this rod 26 are the lace point frames 2,! and there should be on each bar 26 a lace point frame 21 for each cradle frame 25. Carried by each frame 21 is a series of drum lace points 34. These lace points 34 when in their active positions cooperate with the knitting needles 42 but when in their inactive positions, these points 34 together with their frames 21 are swung out of engagement with the knitting needles 42 or in a position as shown in dotted lines in Figure 2 of the'drawings.

It is an object of'the present invention to pro-' vide a drum lace attachment for flat bar knitting machines adapted to obtain a much larger patterning possibility.

In the operation of the knitting machine, at the beginning of each patterning or covering movement, the slide 1 is pushed upwards by an eccentric or any otherv suitable means (not shown) thereby causing the stop support 3 to be shifted to the right and at the same time, release the pattern chain through the mechanism heretobefore described. The rod I5 is now reciprocated by any suitable means (not shown) whereby the pattern chain is set in motion. When the rod 1 is retracted, the sector is released and the moving pattern chain is stopped. The stop support is now moved to the left by any suitable means (not shown) until the dog 2| which is mounted in the frame 5 of the stop support strikes the sector The bar 20 of the racking tackle is then moved up and down causing the stop 22 to reciprocate due to the stepped face of the upper end of the rod 20.

As only one set of lace points can be active at a'time, the rods 23 and 26 may be jointly shifted to obtain the desired patterning. At this time, both rods 23 and 26 abut against the stop 22 and both rods together with the parts carried thereby may be moved to the right or left, which latter movement is effected only by the pin rod actuating mechanism of the knitting machine which normally tends to press the rods 23 and 26 against the stop 22.

All 'of the foregoing is the construction and operation of a conventional flat bar knitting machine and as the same will be fully understood by those skilled in this art, no further description is required.

The present invention relates to a drum lace attachment for such flat bar knitting machines whereby a much larger patterning possibility is attained. With known drum lace attachments of this kind, the drum hitherto has been displaced laterally by one or two needle divisions only for the purpose of transferring the loops. It has also been proposed to displace the drum for patterning and to position it at any desired point of the division. The essence of the invention resides in that the entire attachment can further additionally be laterally displaced corresponding to the pattern for the purpose of patterning in the same way as has hitherto been effected with lace points, picot edge bars or the like while maintaining simple relationships which are easily supervised.

This is attained in particular in that the rod 26 carrying the drum lace attachment cooperates with the same displacing device which before controlled the other patterning devices, picot edge bars or the like. In this way, it is now possible to displace the patterning group set in the drum lace attachment repeatedly as desired to the right or left in a lateral direction to effect patterning.

In carrying out the present invention; I secured to the shaft 26 the arms or brackets 30 at an angular position with respect to the arms of the lace point frame 21 and journalled within suitable bearings provided at the outer ends of the arms 30 a shaft 29 having keyed or otherwise attached thereto a drum 3|. This shaft may be rotated by any suitable means, but with the rotation thereof, the drum 3| will be caused to turn therewith.

Referring now to Figs. 5 and 6, the pattern blocks 40 are equipped with butts 43 at their inner ends with which they make a sliding fit in grooves 44 of the drums 3|. The pattern blocks are notched on opposite sides at 45 and patterning cams 46, here shown as U-shaped wire members, are inserted .in the notches with one of their shanks 4'| abutted against the perimeter of the drum 3|.

Referring'now to Fig. 2, 33 and 35 are clamps for securing the transfer. needles 32 and the lace needles 34 to their respective frames 26 and 21.

Mounted to rock about pivots 36 on each lace needle frame 21 are presser arms 31, one per' the check rod 4| .by the resilient reaction of the lace needles 34 when their cams are not engaged by the patterning cams 46.

Rocking movement in opposite directions is imparted to the cradle frames 25, with the transfer needles 32, and to the frames 21, with the lace needles 34, as illustrated in Fig. 2, by any suitable means (not shown). In the position shown in Fig. 3, a patterning (mm 46 which rotates clockwise with the drum 3|, is going to engage below the cam 39 of the arm 31 which just prior was applied to the check rod 4| by the resilient reaction of the corresponding lace needle 34. In the position illustrated in Fig. 4, patterning cam 46 is in line with the crest of the cam 39. The arm 31 is at its maximum distance from the check rod 4|, and the lace needle 34 is bent into alignment with the corresponding knitting needle 42. 7

Fig. 2 shows an intermediate position in which the patterning cam 46 is on the descending portion of the crest, permitting the arm 31 to return toward the check rod 4| under the reaction of the lace needle 34.

The arms of the cradleframe 25 are provided with offset portions so that the frame may be swung about the shaft 29 in order that the points 32 may be brought into active positions with the knitting needles 42. From the showing in Fig. 1, it will be readily seen that as the distance between the arms of the frame 25 is greater than the length of the drum 3|, this drum will be permitted to pass between the arms of this frame 25 when the lace drum points 34 and its frame are swung to their inactive positions as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2 and the lace points 32 are swung into active positions with respect to the knitting needles 42.

If in a knitting machine having a lace attachment as designed heretofore, the pattern illustrated in Fig. '7, was to be'knitted, it was necessary to place four pattern cams 46 on the first pattern block 40 as shown at a, four pattern cams on the second block, as shown at 17, four pattern cams on the third block, as shown at c, and so on, as far as the tenth blockat It, so thatten pattern blocks 40, with four pattern cams 46 each, were required. In my novel lace attachment, all that is required is to provide a single block 40 ,with four cams 46. This single block, together with the adjustable cradle frames 26, lace point frames 21 and drums 3|, is moved to the left or to the right as the bars 23 and 26 are shifted to obtain the pattern which in the old attachment required tenblocks 40 with fourcams 46. In other words, according to my invention, it is possible to knit a given pattern by lateral displacement of a drum with a single block, or a group of blocks, but at any rate withmuch fewer members than in the old attachment.

The pattern illustrated in Fig. 8 in the old attachment would require l pattern blocks 40, each with one cam 46. In my novel attachment the same pattern is obtained with a single block 40 and a single cam 46. a

Fig. 9 shows another pattern in which the number of patterning positions in the individual groups is not equal. In the old attachment this pattern would require'eight blocks 40 each with one cam 46. According to my invention, the same pattern is obtained either with four blocks 40 and four, three, two and one cam 46 per block, respectively, if the covering operation is performed eight times, or with a single block 40 with one cam 46, if the covering operation is performed twenty times.

It will be understood from these examples that the number 'of pattern blocks and cams required for my novel attachment is much reduced. This not only permits using pattern drums of much smaller diameter than heretofore, reducing the inertia forces and providing space for other devices or members, but also permits many more patterns to be knitted with a given drum, than in the old attachment.

I claim:

1. In a drum-lace attachment on fiat knitting machines, a stop connected to a stop support adapted to be controlled by a pattern chain governed mechanism, a bar carrying transfer needle frames adapted to be reciprocated and to be arrested by said stop, a second bar extending in parallel to said first mentioned bar also adapted to be reciprocated and to be arrested by said stop, lace point frames mounted on said second car, pattern drums, one for each of said second mentioned frames, mounted on said second bar and a set of lace points per drum also carried by said second bar.

2. In a drum-lace attachment on fiat knitting machines, a stop connected to a stop support adapted to be controlled by a pattern chain governed mechanism, a bar carrying transfer needle frames adapted to be reciprocated and to be arrested by said stop, a second bar extending in parallel to said first mentioned bar also adapted to be reciprocated and to be arrested by said stop, lace point frames mounted on said second bar, pattern drums, one for each of said second mentioned frames, mounted on said second bar, pattern bars mounted on each of said drums. exchangeable pattern cams on said pattern bars, and

- a set of lace points per-drum carried by each adapted to be controlled by a pattern chain governed mechanism, a bar carrying transfer needle frames adapted to be reciprocated and to be arrested by said stop, a second bar extending in parallel to said first mentioned bar also adapted to be reciprocated and to be arrested by said stop, lace point frames mounted on said second bar, a pattern drum per frame mounted on said second bar and having grooves extending in parallel to its axis, notched pattern bars inserted in said grooves, U-shaped pattern cams adapted to be inserted in the notches of said pattern bars, with one of their shanks abutted on the perimeter of said drum and a set of lace points per drum also carried by said second bar. WOLDEMAR HEINITZ. 

